There should only be one person called the boss in the Quicksand Team.
Baimu used to think so.
But now he realizes that the highest-ranking officer in the Sand Group, Cang Zhilang, is also called boss by the people below, rather than team leader.
This is a serious issue.
It may seem like just a title, but it carries connotations similar to "the lord of the lord is not my lord."
He hopes he's just overthinking it, but the deeper he delves, the more unstable the Quicksand Team appears, on the brink of capsizing at any moment...
He hopes the Quicksand Team survives until he grows up.
The fox-like man led Baimu inside, suddenly turning around on an elevator, "My name is Liu Ge."
"Hello."
Baimu replied softly, glancing at Aron with the corner of his eye, seeing it only curiously observing the metal surroundings, he felt relieved.
Pokémon are beings with human-like intelligence, but often their reason is not enough to suppress their instincts—the violent instinct, the instinct to reproduce, and the instinct to eat.
Even though Aron was fed before coming out, if it suddenly lunges at so much metal and takes a couple of bites, it'll be troublesome.
Liu Ge pressed a switch, and the elevator began to descend slowly.
He glanced at Baimu and Aron, which was obediently crouched by his ankle, and asked,
"Did you bring it out from the assessment site?"
"Yeah, I thought it was fate, so I tried to capture it."
"What about the one distributed by the team?"
"I exchanged it for financial aid, I was worried I didn't have experience with raising it for the first time."
"Haha... You're pretty self-aware, many people, after getting their first Pokémon, immediately want a second one, but end up not taking care of either." He smiled.
Creak.
The elevator reached the bottom.
A vast underground space suddenly appeared before Baimu, with various makeshift iron sheet houses stacked layer upon layer, illuminated by colorful neon lights. Steel pillars ran up and down, with discarded iron boxes and partitioning wire mesh scattered all around.
It was very much like the slum districts in some sci-fi games.
[Underground City].
The complete dark side of Pyrite Town, a paradise for crime syndicates, a hell for the poor. If there were any semblance of a police station on the surface, the Underground City belonged entirely to the crime syndicates.
Whoever had the bigger fists made the rules.
Baimu hadn't been here many times, because it was dangerous and unnecessary, he was never the reckless type since childhood.
And as he moved forward, looking around, Liu Ge pushed up the glasses on his nose, "I like rational people, if you don't mind, follow me?"
"Eh?"
Baimu was stunned for a moment, about to say something when the person who greeted him to report yesterday approached.
"Oh oh you came quite early, at your age I was—oof! Lord Liu Ge! Good morning!"
The person widened their eyes, stood straight, and saluted.
"Good morning to you too." Liu Ge waved, turning to the surprised-looking Baimu, "As you can see, I'm a cadre in the Sand Group, responsible for recruiting newcomers."
"Sorry for the earlier—"
"Hey! No need to say unnecessary things, the boss is still waiting for you, hurry up." Liu Ge nudged his shoulder.
Baimu had no choice but to follow the person ahead, continuing to walk forward with Aron.
The highest officer below the top cadre in the Quicksand Team is the cadre—mid-level commanders, managing ten squads, with each squad being ten people, meaning Liu Ge is in charge of a hundred official members.
Does the Sand Group have such a young cadre?
He pondered intensely, suddenly recalling some gossip someone had once told him about the Sand Group, about a man who inherited his late father's position and defeated all challengers within just a month.
It's probably him.
Though he started much stronger than him, achieving so much is also remarkable.
At that time, Liu Ge's situation, without his backing, must have been very difficult.
"Hey, are you close with Lord Liu Ge?"
The guide interrupted his thoughts.
"No, I just met him and had the fortune to chat a bit." Baimu shook his head, not intending to boast using someone else's influence. Instead, he was worried about being too impolite earlier and whether he'd hold a grudge.
—Such things are very common in Pyrite Town. One of his colleagues had forgotten to salute a formal member and got punished.
He discreetly surveyed his surroundings. There weren't many people in the Underground City, and those who appeared only observed quietly.
Unlike the mixed looks of jealousy and mockery on the surface, these gazes were mostly curious and friendlier.
The faint whispers were barely audible but didn't seem to be anything negative.
"You're really lucky, Lord Liu Ge rarely invites people himself. Their team's benefits are great, and the atmosphere is too," said the guide with a hint of envy in his eyes.
Baimu smiled politely, "I owe it to you, brother. If you hadn't reminded me, I wouldn't have come today."
"Hahaha, kid, you sure know how to talk. Go on, the boss is inside."
The guide patted him on the back and pointed to a tin house straight ahead.
Inside, there was a constant blast of deafening music and thumping sounds, as if something was being pummeled, quite intimidating.
Baimu turned to look at Aron, and seeing its usual expression, walked in slowly.
As he stepped in, his view opened up abruptly.
He found himself in a place resembling a boxing ring, with a gigantic octagonal cage, shining incandescent lights, and screens displaying recordings.
Speakers around played a din of music that was both noisy and exhilarating, akin to an exciting competition venue.
However, there were no spectators in the boxing ring.
Only a nearly two-meter tall burly man and a mighty Machamp occupied the cage, sparring with punches or dodging each other. Despite wearing boxing gloves, the thuds sounded alarming as their punches landed on flesh.
Baimu watched for half a minute until he saw Machamp suddenly land a punch on the burly man's abdomen, and with a burst, the man spat out a mouthguard mixed with blood and saliva and knelt on the ground, panting heavily.
"..."
He smirked and exchanged a glance with Machamp across from him, who motioned with its chin towards the burly man.
As if to say, "What are you waiting for, come lend a hand."
Baimu could only climb over and help the gasping burly man to the corner, offering him a towel and water.
The burly man accepted but kept his head down, not looking at him until he caught his breath, revealing a pair of fierce eyes, "Who allowed you on the ring?"
Out the corner of his eye, Baimu glanced at Machamp, who was now whistling with hands behind its head, "...Team Quicksand regulations."
The burly man frowned, "Huh? How come I don't know about this rule?"
"As team members, the first priority is to protect the boss," Baimu said with a steady expression.
"Hmph!"
The burly man chuckled coldly, removing the gloves from his hands, "Sharp-tongued. Put them on and face it for a round. If you can last, I'll overlook your act of jumping on the ring."
"...Alright."
Baimu picked up the gloves indifferently, feeling somewhat helpless.
At this point, how could he not realize he had been set up, but he never expected that such a high-ranking leader would play such a petty trick. Couldn't we just be straightforward? It was indeed a mistake to trust hearsay.
Awkwardly, he had no right to refuse.
Regardless of whether the intention was good or bad, this helpless and "cannot say no" feeling was awful.
"This leg just recovered, huh."
He twisted his right leg. A round was typically three minutes, but given the offensive intensity Machamp had just shown, lasting ten seconds would be a challenge.
Directly opposite.
Machamp swung its fists, producing a whooshing sound through the air, with no trace of guilt after trapping someone, only a cruel smile.
But just as it was about to approach, a silver figure suddenly stood between them.
"Grr!"
Aron growled a warning at Machamp.
"Ah! How could I be so thoughtless to forget about you in a panic."
Baimu crouched down regretfully, patting Aron's head, "It's alright, wait for me below, it'll be over soon."
"Grr!"
Aron turned and began to call out seriously.
As if saying Machamp is very dangerous, it's not right to fight it head-on.
If only refusal was an option...
Baimu was just about to persuade further when a terrifying whooshing sound suddenly came from above, like some object approaching rapidly!
Whoosh!
A heavy fist missed!
Machamp looked unexpectedly at Baimu, who had rolled to the side holding Aron, with a serious expression and furrowed brow.
"Is there already an unrelated person on the stage? Has it started?"
"Heh!"
Machamp gestured with a wave of its hand.
The burly man in the corner, drinking water, said, "It's letting both of you take it on together, consider yourself lucky."